Description

In this ground-breaking study, Aaron Devor provides a compassionate, intimate, and incisive look at the life experiences of forty-five trans men. Emerging into 21st-century political and social conversations, questions persist. Who are they? How do they come to know themselves as men? What do they do about it? How do their families respond? Who are their lovers? What does it mean for everyone else? To answer these and other questions, Devor spent years compiling in-depth interviews and researching the lives of transsexual and transgender people. Here, he traces the everyday and significant events that coalesce into trans identities, culminating in gender and sex transformations. Using trans men’s own words as illustrations, Devor looks at how childhood, adolescence, and adult experiences with family members, peers, and lovers work to shape and clarify their images of themselves as men. With a new introduction, Devor positions the volume in twenty-first century debates of identity politics and community-building and provides a window into his own self-exploration as a result of his research.

Author Bio

Aaron Devor, PhD, FSSSS, FSTLHE, is the Founder and Academic Director of the world's largest Transgender Archives, the world's first Research Chair in Transgender Studies, a former Dean of Graduate Studies (2002-2012), and a professor of Sociology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada.

Reviews

“This is the most comprehensive, professional book to date on FTM transsexualism and the many aspects of their life journeys. For its volume, this book is clearly understandable and reads without excessive use of scientific and academic rhetoric, thus making the book available to a broad audience. It is nonjudgmental, nonsensational, and provocative in its honesty, interpretation, and challenge to the future of societal opinion regarding FTM gender identity. (Reviewing a previous edition)”
— Journal of Sex Research

“Devor’s exploration of the life experiences and transformations of female-to-male transsexuals richly describes a heretofore neglected topic. Devor's compelling description provides readers with insights that both contrast with and complement the existing literature on male-to-female transsexuals and other transgendered individuals. (Reviewing a previous edition)”
— Contemporary Sociology

“A landmark in the documentation of the personal lives of transsexual men. (Reviewing a previous edition)”
— The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality

“The book alternates specialized academic analysis with the individual studies, and should be of interest to both professionals who work with transsexuals and scholars interested in gender theory. (Reviewing a previous edition)”
— Choice

“Writing with an intelligent and accessible style, Dr. Devor balances exposition, analysis, and excerpts from her subjects’ interviews to present a coherent picture of what social life is like for FTMs as they find their identity and learn about themselves. (Reviewing a previous edition)”
— Jamison “James” Green

“A compassionate, intimate, and incisive look at the life experiences of forty-five trans men. With a new introduction, Devor positions the book in current debates of identity politics and community-building, providing a window into his own self-exploration as a result of his research.”

“I often say that I decided to pursue a gender transition despite what I read in the books that were available to me—a handful of harsh, challenge-filled biographies about trailblazing transgender pioneers. With the notable exception, that is, of ‘the trans man’s bible’—Devor’s big red hardcover that still sits, 20 years later, prominently on my bookshelf. FTM was hot off the presses right when I needed it most. Devor—gently, insightfully, starkly, and respectfully—put forth a beautifully written illustration of how life could be for me, made evident by those who bravely chose to share their lives for this book. I like to think this book provided me with the how-to for grabbing my amazing transgender life by the balls!”
— Aidan Key, Speaker, author, and founder of the National Gender Odyssey Conference

“In this new edition of FTM, Devor, who so brilliantly previously captured the remarkable stories of transsexual men, continues to illuminate the need for insight into the transsexual man's life experience. Years ago, as a transsexual man searching for a reflection of my experience and guidance on my impending journey, I found what I was seeking in the pages of this book. In this day of increasing trans visibility there still remains a lack of trans male images, histories and experiences leading to a continued lack of visibility and opportunities for mentorship, which Dr. Jamison Green so eloquently states in his pointed new foreword. Perhaps the time has come for a more equitable representation of transsexual men in the movement for trans justice.”
— Zander Keig, LCSW, featured in the documentary Zanderology; and co-editor of Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisd